Shoe.



G. H. RICKE.

SHOE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. a. 19:5.

1,196,719. PatentedAug. 29,1916.

GEORGE E. RICKE, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO, ASSIGNOR OF ON E-HALF 'IO EDWARD OELKER, 0F CINCINNATI, OI-IIO.

SHOE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 29, 1216.

Application filed February 8, 1915. Serial No. 6,745.

Tooll whom it may concern Be it known that I, GEORGE H. RICKE, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city of Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shoes, of which the following is a specification.

My invention belongs to that class of shoes which are provided with a sole made of hard or nonflexible material, which, however, is rendered flexible or yielding by a suitable joint construction so that the sole will yield to the action of the foot in walking; the upper of the shoe being made of flexible material. To accomplish this object I form the sole of sections and place between them a joint of peculiar construction. The soles of shoes of this character are usually made of wood, fiber or some hard materials which are non-conductors of cold and dampness. Shoes of this class which have soles made of one piece are heavy, thick, cumbersome and inconvenient, will not yield to the action of the foot, thus rendering walking and stooping or bending of the foot a hardship.

My invention overcomes these objections, so that, by wearing my shoes, the wearer can go about his vocation or work the same as though he were wearing leather shoes, eX- cept that his feet will be kept dry and warm, this being necessary, as the wearers of this class of shoes usually work in damp, wet, rough and cold places. By my unique and novel joint construction and sectional sole, the shoe sole yields and bends to the action of the foot in walking.

The various features and advantages of the invention will readily become apparent from the following specification.

In the accompanying drawing forming part of this specification-Figure 1, is a side elevation of my new shoe, Fig. 2, is a plan view ofthesole, the parts of the joint being shown in dotted lines, Fig. 3, is a section on line 88 of Fig. 2, and Fig. 4, is an isometric view of the two parts which form the joint, broken away at one end.

In the present instance, the sole is made of two wooden sections or parts 1 and 2, the part 1 forming the heel and arch section and the part 2 the toe section; around the outer upper edge of these parts, I form a groove 3, onto and into which the lower edge of the upper 1 fits and is fastened by nails 5. While the sole sections 1 and 2 are in the present instance made of wood, they may be made of any other suitable or desirable material, and the upper 1 may be made of leather or any suitable flexible material and be connected to the sole in any desirable manner.

The sections 1 and 2 are spaced to receive the joint connection between them, this joint forming a joint of metal or a metal section in the space between the parts 1 and 2. This oint is in the present instance formed of three metal parts or sections, a section 6 having a concave face and a section 7 having a convex face, the section 7 at the rear also being concaved, a loose plate or part 8 passing through slots 9 in each sec tion 6 and 7 having a head '10 which lies in the concave part 12 of the section 7. This head 10 is angular in shape as shown and is larger than the slots 9 so as to retain its position and not slip through said slot 9 in part 7 and is angular so as to wear slowly; it may be made of any other shape however. At their outer edges these parts 6 and 7 are solid and carry wings as 13 and toward the middle or next to the wings, they are skeleton shaped, both for lightness and efiiciency in operation. These wings 13 fit into slits or recesses cut in the face of each of the sections 1 and 2 where they meet the joint and are held in normal position by pins or nails 14: passing through holes in said wings. The wings may be of any shape or configuration and held in place in any suitable manner. The plate Spasses through slots 9 in parts 6 and 7 and enters a recess 15 in the section 2 and is held in place by pins or nails 16. I

Over the joint formed by the sections 6 and 7 I place a pad or layer of rubber, leather, canvas, or any other material 17 made of one or more layers and I also preferably employ an insole 18; the material 17 and insole 18 being employed to keep the wet and dampness out of the shoe.

551 .095 o this Character, the upper, at

1 cess being an extension of the outer surface or end of the parts 6 and 7. Into these recesses 19 the bottom of the upper 4 rests and fits at the joint, the wall or ear 20 at its edge being forced over to impinge against the upper thus keeping it in a natural and uniform position at the joint, preventing the upper from buckling or folding and keeping the leather of the upper from tea-ring. These ears 20 may be made of any shape, size or contour.

It will be noted that in the manufacture of my shoe the sole can be quickly and cheaply made as I do not need to do any extra work in forming the faces of the sole sections where they meet the joint and the joint being made of metal can be quickly and readily put in position and will retain this position under severe and rough usage.

The joint being metal will not wear readily and thus keep this part of the sole, where the wear is heaviest, in uniform and eflicient working order.

It will readily be seen that the sole section 1 supports the heel and arch of the foot and that the section 2 supports the toes and forward part of the foot and that the ball of the foot regulates the working of the joint so that the action of the foot in walking is not obstructed, hindered or impaired by the sole, as it yields to the action of the foot.

An insole is preferably used in the shoe as it helps to keep the feet warm and tends to keep the oint even.

' 7 It will be seen that by my new shoe all the advantages of a non-conducting material are obtained and retained and still the advantageous walking and wearing qualities of a leather or all flexible shoe are obtained.

The metal joint may be held in place between the sole sections in any preferred and desirable manner.

While I have described and shown one specific method and form of constructing my new shoe, it will readily become apparent that the same is capable of consider able change and modification, and I wish to be understood as not confining myself to the specific form herein shown, but wish to be understood that such modifications will still fall within the scopeof my invention.

What I claim as new and my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A shoe having a sole comprising a heel and arch section and a toe section, both of wood, and a metal section forming a joint between said heel and arch section and said toe section, said metal section comprising a part having a concave face, a part having a convex face fitting said concave face, said parts having alined slots, and a plate having a head on one end, said plate extending through said slots up to the head and having its other end extended into the toe section and secured thereto, and means for securing the part of the metal section having the concave face to one of said wooden sec 'tions and the part having the convex face to the other wooden section.

2. In a shoe of the character described, a sole formed of a forward section and a rear section made of wood, and a metal joint between them, said joint being formed of members suitably secured to said wooden sections and provided with co-acting concave and convex faces, a plate extending into one of said sections and through said metal members and means for holding said plate in position, the concave and convex faces and the plate co-acting to form a movable joint during the act of walking.

3. In a shoe of the character described, a sole formed of a forward section and a rear section, and a metal joint between them, said joint being formedof members suitably secured to said sections and provided with co-acting concave and convex faces, a plate extending into one of said sections and through said metal members and means for holding said plate in position, the members at each side of the sole being recessed to receive the upper and means for holding the upper in position at the joint to prevent buckling, the concave and convex faces and the plate co-acting to form a movable joint during the act of walking.

4. In a shoe of the character described, a forward sole section and a rear sole section made of a non-flexible material, a metal section, said forward and rear sole sections being spaced to receive said metal section, said metal section extending entirely across the width of the sole and filling the space between said forward and rear sections, and forming a joint between the forward and rear sole sections, said joint being formed of interlocking parts which co-act so that the sole will yield to the action of the foot in walking and means for holding said metal section in place.

5. A sole comprising a main sole portion and a separate toe portion, both of wood, a coupling member secured to each portion, said members having oppositely curved faces fitting one against the other, and means for loosely joining said members together.

6. A sole comprising a main sole portion and a separate toe portion, bothof wood, a coupling member secured to each portion, said members having oppositely curved faces fitting one against the other, and means for inflexible means for loosely joining said loosely and permanently joining said memmembers together. 1;) hers together. Executed at Cincinnati, Hamilton county,

7 A sole comprising a main sole portion State of Ohio, February 3rd, 1915. 5 and a separate toe portion, both of Wood, a GEORGE H. RICKE.

coupling member secured to each portion, Witnesses: said members having oppositely curved H. E. CARsTENs, faces fitting one against the other, and L. M. DUNLAP.

'Dopiea of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. i 

